France coach Laurent Blanc has called for league officials to go easy on Bordeaux captain Alou Diarra.
French boss wants Bordeaux skipper's previous record considered
France coach Laurent Blanc has called for league officials to go easy on Bordeaux captain Alou Diarra in his punishment.
Diarra is expected to receive a ban after pushing referee William Bien following a booking in his team's 1-0 win over Auxerre on Sunday.
Blanc appointed the 29-year-old as skipper in his days with the club, where they won the Ligue 1 title in 2009, and has given Diarra the armband for the last three Euro 2012 qualifiers since taking over the national team.
Diarra's situation is similar to that of Nancy forward Youssouf Hadji, who was given a six-month ban for committing a similar offence last season, although it was eventually reduced.
The disciplinary commission of France's Professional Football League (LFP) will begin studying the case on Thursday, but reports of the French media have suggested that his immediate apology could see him given just a one-month suspension.
Mistake
"I hope the punishment takes into account that Alou Diarra is really a good boy," Blanc said.
"It's very unfortunate for him. Knowing him, he must be massively angry with himself. He realised straight away that he'd made a huge mistake."
"Sometimes when you're in the car, someone does something to you and you have a reaction that lasts two seconds, which you regret on the third second.
"The only problem is that there was the first and the second. That's what happened to him."
